House Of Horrors 1946 Story by Dwight V Babcock, screenplay by George Bricker, directed by Jean Yarbrough. The last film in the 4th volume of the Universal Horror Collection. It's got a commentary by Scott Gallinghouse. He wrote a book on Rondo Hatton. Rondo made a fair number of films, mostly small uncredited parts, starting with the 1927 Uncle Tom's Cabin where he played an uncredited slave. Rondo had acromegaly and it killed him shortly after he shot this film and The Brute Man. Gallinghouse's commentary was entertaining and covered a lot of Rondo's life and a good bit on the film.
Martin Kosleck is a sculpture. He's not having a good career, his art isn't that interesting and a critic lets him know in no uncertain terms. Poor Martin can't pay his rent. On the way to kill himself he winds up saving Rondo from the river. He takes Rondo back to his apartment and offers him a place to stay. He doesn't know that Rondo is The Creeper, a murderer who escaped from the police. Rondo doesn't say anything but he appreciates Martin's help. The Creeper goes out when Martin's asleep and kills the people Martin thinks have done him wrong. Nothing good is coming from that.
Martin is fascinated with The Creeper's face and he believes his sculpture is the best work he's done. It will lead the police there and everything ends badly for Martin. The Creeper escapes so he can star in The Brute Man.
I enjoyed this better than The Climax. It's got a good villain and a fairly good story. Done with volume 4, onto box 5 soon.
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